Mekong yields new species every two days in 2010

A snub-nosed monkey, a lizard that clones itself to reproduce
and a carnivorous pitcher plant that gobbles on birds. Those are
among the 208 species that were described by science in Mekong
River region of Southeast Asia in 2010.

A World Wildlife Federation report reveals that the area -- which
spans Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and Yunnan -- was
so plentiful in undiscovered species that biologists stumbled
across an average of one new animal every two days.

The snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus
strykeri) was discovered in Northern Burma in 2010. The
black-furred primate sits with its head between its knees in wet
weather, to stop water running in its upturned nose. Rain allegedly causes the monkey to sneeze.

An all-female lizard (Leiolepis
ngovantrii) in Vietnam reproduces through asexual parthenogenesis.
This is handy because you don't need to find a male partner, but a
lack of genetic diversity and mutations can leave such an animal in
evolutionary standstill. The lizard was not discovered in the wild
-- zoologists discovered the species in 2010 after seeing it on the menu at a
Vietnamese village restaurant.

New plants were most prevalent species. 145 of them were found
in 2010, including five species of carnivorous pitcher plants.
These animal-eating plants chow down on small rats, mice, lizards
and even birds. In all, 145 plants, 28 reptiles, 25 fish, seven
amphibians, two mammals and and one bird were all within the
Greater Mekong region of Southeast Asia.

The WWF will take this research to Myanmar later this month, and
will call on the six leaders from the Greater Mekong Sub-region
(GMS) to express the benefits of biodiversity, and the great cost of losing it. The snub-nosed
monkey, for example, is already highly endangered.

"While the 2010 discoveries are new to science, many are already
destined for the dinner table, struggling to survive in shrinking
habitats and at risk of extinction," said Stuart Chapman,
conservation director of WWF Greater Mekong. "The region's treasure
trove of biodiversity will be lost if governments fail to invest in
the conservation and maintenance of biodiversity."